U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,487 discloses a dispensing package for fluid products. A container has a body for holding a product to be dispensed and has a finish extending from the body with an open mouth. A closure base includes a ledge with a skirt externally secured to the finish and a cylindrical wall extending from the ledge coaxially with the mouth. A collar has a deck with a central opening aligned with the mouth, a first cylindrical wall surrounding the opening and extending away from the mouth, and a second cylindrical wall externally surrounding and secured to the cylindrical wall on the base. A lid is integrally connected to the collar or the base by at least one hinge. A dispensing valve of flexible resilient elastomeric construction has a peripheral portion captured between the collar deck and the base cylindrical wall for securing the valve in position and simultaneously functioning as a seal between the base and the collar. The valve also has an intermediate portion underlying the collar deck, and an annular wall portion extending from an inner end of the intermediate portion radially inwardly adjacent to an inner surface of the first cylindrical collar wall. The valve further has an inner portion extending radially inwardly from the annular wall portion, and at least one dispensing slit in the inner portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,469 discloses a dispensing valve that includes an annular ring of relatively rigid molded plastic construction, and a flexible resilient valve element integrally molded onto the ring, and the ring and the valve element have at least one mechanical interlock to secure the valve element to the ring as the valve element is molded onto the ring. The mechanical interlock includes openings in an inner periphery of the annular ring and portions of the valve element molded into the openings. The inner periphery of the ring includes an annular ledge, and the openings are through-openings disposed in an angularly spaced array around the ledge. Each of the openings includes an enlarged portion opening at one axially facing surface of the ledge and an ensmalled portion aligned with the enlarged portion and opening to a second axially facing surface of the ledge.
One or more general objects of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, include providing a dispensing valve that is made of one piece and is not retained to a closure by a separate rigid retainer collar or mounting ring, may be recycled with a closure, may include a mounting portion and an opening portion flexibly coupled to the mounting portion by an isolating portion, and/or may have a vacuum break to reduce occurrences of valves sticking to one another and/or to material handling equipment during production.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A dispensing valve in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes a resiliently flexible mounting portion, a resiliently flexible opening portion disposed radially inwardly of the mounting portion, and a resiliently flexible isolating portion disposed radially between and coupled to the mounting and opening portions. The isolating portion extends both radially outwardly and axially to form a first radial space between the opening and isolating portions, and is spaced radially inwardly of the mounting portion to form a second radial space between the mounting and isolating portions. Preferably, the opening portion may include one or more slits.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a dispensing valve includes a one-piece valve body of integrally formed plastic construction and of uniform plastic composition. The valve body includes an radially outward annular portion including a radially inward leg and a radially outward leg configured for coupling to a valve mounting structure that at least radially outwardly surrounds the outward leg. The annular portion preferably has a cross section of at least one of the following shapes: W-shape, X-shape, M-shape, V-shape, inverted V-shape, inverted U-shape, U-shape, or block U-shaped. The valve body also includes a circular inward valve portion integrally and flexibly coupled to a free end of the inward leg of the annular portion, the inward valve portion having at least one slit. The cross section of the annular portion at least partially isolating the inward valve portion from stresses imparted to the dispensing valve.
In accordance with a further aspect of the disclosure, a dispensing assembly includes a dispensing structure having a dispensing passage and an annular wall, and a dispensing valve carried within the annular wall of the dispensing structure and in communication with the dispensing passage. The dispensing valve consists of a one-piece valve body of integrally molded plastic construction and of uniform plastic composition. The valve body includes an radially outward annular portion including a radially inward leg and a radially outward leg configured for coupling to a valve mounting structure that at least radially outwardly surrounds the outward leg. The annular portion preferably has a cross section of at least one of the following shapes: W-shape, X-shape, M-shape, V-shape, inverted V-shape, inverted U-shape, U-shape, or block U-shaped. The valve body also includes a circular inward valve portion integrally and flexibly coupled to a free end of the inward leg of the annular portion, the inward valve portion having at least one slit. The cross section of the annular portion at least partially isolating the inward valve portion from stresses imparted to the dispensing valve.